Wrongfully convicted Black man walks free after nearly 40 years in US jail

A Black American who spent nearly 40 years in prison for a murder he did not commit has been released in the US state of California after DNA tests showed he was not the killer.

Maurice Hastings, 69, had his murder conviction overturned on Friday by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office after he was wrongly convicted for the 1983 abduction and killing of Roberta Wydermyer, 30, in the city of Inglewood.

"I'm not pointing fingers. I'm not standing up here a bitter man,'' Hastings said at a news conference. "But I just want to enjoy my life while I have it. And I just want to move forward.''

Newly-tested DNA evidence exonerated Hastings of the crime and identified a different person as the murderer.

The district attorney's office said the real killer died in 2020 while serving a sentence for a separate kidnapping and rape.

"What has happened to Mr. Hastings is a terrible injustice," Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement.

"The justice system is not perfect, and when we learn of new evidence which causes us to lose confidence in a conviction, it is our obligation to act swiftly."

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'The system failed you'

The district attorney's office worked in conjunction with the Los Angeles Innocence Project to file a motion to vacate Hastings' conviction.

Gascon apologised to Hastings that the DNA evidence was not available at the time to prevent his conviction and prison sentence.

"The system failed you,'' he said. "The system failed the victims.''

Gascon credited Hastings for pushing his office "to investigate your case.''

"You are a free man today because of your perseverance,'' said Gascon.

Hastings thanked all those who believed in him and prayed for him while he was imprisoned, including his mother, who died in June before she could see him exonerated.

"I prayed for many years that this day would come," he said.

The victim in the case, Wydermyer, was sexually assaulted and killed by a single gunshot to the head, authorities said.

Her body was found in the trunk of her vehicle in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood.

Hastings sought DNA testing in 2000

Hastings was charged with special-circumstance murder and the district attorney's office sought the death penalty but the jury deadlocked. A second jury convicted him and he was sentenced in 1988 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

At the time of the victim's autopsy, the coroner conducted a sexual assault examination and semen was detected in an oral swab, the district attorney said.

Hastings sought DNA testing in 2000 but at that time the DA's office denied the request.

Hastings submitted a claim of innocence to the DA's Conviction Integrity Unit last year and DNA testing last June found that the semen was not his.